1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to farm implements used for row seeding by forming spaced furrows of preselected depths, depositing seed and fertilizer into the furrows, pressing dirt falling into the furrows onto the deposited materials with the furrow openers each supported by front and rear wheels which determine the depth of the furrows.
Present day drills and row seeders generally, for use in large scale farming operations, must be capable of accurately and speedily laying down seed in a multiplicity of spaced, parallel furrows of uniform depths during each pass through the field. And, desirably, the implement should also be capable, at the same time, of feeding fertilizer in granular form into the furrows. Moreover, the depth of the furrows must be easily and quickly varied at the will of the operator.
2. Summary of the Present Invention
To accomplish such requirements, our instant invention provides a series of identical, independent, side-by-side units or assemblies, each placed in tow by a pivotal connection to the overhead superstructure or framework of the implement, all in association with suitable implement mechanisms for raising the assemblies to a non-operating, over-the-road position.
Each assembly has a front and a rear wheel supporting a furrower opener therebetween, with the wheels operating a gauge the depth of the furrow. The frames or beams of the wheels, looped over the opener are articulated above the latter such as to vary the furrow depth by buckling of such beams and thereby moving the wheels toward and away from each other. A manual control is used to effect the buckling, and the wheels as well as the opener are yieldably biased downwardly. The rear wheel serves as a press wheel in the furrow above the seed and the front wheel may be of such nature as to slice the ground ahead of the opener.